Youthful Packers need to keep trending upward
By GERY WOELFEL
If the Green Bay Packers lose to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, it wouldn’t create any shocks waves around the NFL.
The Lions are simply the superior team and it’s reflected in them being a 7-point favorite over the Packers.
A potential Packers loss would actually be par for the course as this season was overwhelmingly viewed as a transitional season after Hall of Fame in-waiting quarterback Aaron Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets.
Still …
If the Packers pulled off the upset and tamed the Lions, it would send a clear message to Packer Nation that 1) They aren’t giving up on their season, and 2) they aren’t giving up on a potential playoff spot.
It’s been well-chronicled the Packers are the youngest team in Roger Goodell’s kingdom and, by beating the Lions, it would be another indicator the youthful Packers are heading in the right direction.
Jordan Love, Rogers’ successor, has been terrific in recent weeks. He completed 20 of 26 passes three weeks ago against the Rams. Last Sunday, against the Chargers, he was 27 of 40.
In the last three games, Love had thrown for five touchdowns and had two picks, one being a Hail Mary throw late in the game against Pittsburgh.
But Love isn’t the only member of the Packers’ Kiddie Corps that has raised their games of late. So has the ultra-young receiving corps of Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave, Tucker Kraft and Dontayvion Wicks, who may be the Packers’ most pleasant surprise of the season.
And, on the other side of the ball, second-year inside linebacker Quay Walker is turning into a tackling machine and Lukas Van Ness, the Packers’ No. 1 draft pick in the 2023 draft, is starting to emerge.
This was projected to be a developmental season for the Packers and it has been. Yet, despite their abundance of youth, the Packers have been highly competitive – even if their 4-6 record might not indicate it. The fact of the matter is the Packers have lost four games by a combined 11 points – or not even by a field goal
The Packers enter the Lions game, incredibly, one game behind Minnesota in the loss column for the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC.
Minnesota’s outstanding QB Kirk Cousins is likely out for the season and it’s anyone’s guess whether his fill-in Joshua Dobbs can lead the Vikings into postseason play.
And don’t forget, the Vikings still have another game against the Packers – Dec. 31 at Minneapolis – and Two GAMES yet against the Lions.
So, while the national perception may be that Thursday’s game is meaningless for the Packers, nothing could be further from the truth.
Prediction: Packers 27, Lions 24.
